But no one ever mentioned the walrus

Discuss Scott McCloud's current online comic project. Be sure to check out <a href="http://www.scottmccloud.com/comics/mi/mi.html">the latest improv</a>!

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Random Dent
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Post by Random Dent »

Arrr, I have a fire in me belly to give Scott a right slap on the back for puttin' in th' pirate talk. Aye, tis good to see ev'ryone celebratin' this fine day.

What's a pirate's favorite resturant?
Arrrrrby's!
"One can not be a good dicator and design women's underclothings."
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michael patrick

Post by michael patrick »

In honor of "Talk Like a Pirate Day" I drew a self portrait as a pirate- I never finished it, but here it is anyway:


http://www.half-past.com/game/pyrite.html
gareis

Post by gareis »

That's high-brow existential stuff, Michael. You should sell it for lots of money.
michael patrick

Post by michael patrick »

actually, the NEA found that picture so controversial that the'yre giving me a grant to NOT finish it.
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Post by Rip Tanion »

Here's my application for a ZWOL No-prize.

Did anyone notice, that when panel 3 was first put up, the "off-camera" character called the guy coming through the door "Wally". Today, his name in the panel has been changed to Stuart.

Wally, of course, is a perfect name for Walrus. Just ask Walter Lantz.

Yesterday, when Stuart was Wally, I thought Wally (who's now called Stuart) was going to somehow morph into a Walrus, at some point in the story.

Now that Wally is now called Stuart (as opposed to Stewart), one can deduce that Wally was changed to Stuart (only slight less nerdy of a name than Stanley) because Scott (a fine name, and certainly less nerdy than Stanley) either just decided to change the character's name for the hell of it, OR, and I think this likely, that he simply fucked up, and wrote Wally instead of Stuart (which is better than being called Myron), due to the fact that while he was typing, his mind was on Wally, who, one can, and will, assume is actually the name of the character who is "off camera", addressing Stuart (which is also better than being called Hyman...just ask your Uncle Hymie), and who is, indeed, with out a shadow of doubt ...a fat, mustachioed, ivory tusked WALRUS!

Or maybe not...

Scott and Greg (both fine names, for sure), you can leave my prize in the parking lot of the nearest White Castle, where one of my operatives will come to pick it up.
"Park the beers, and grab the smiles. It's flight time." - LtCdr. J. Robert "Bobby" Stone, USN (R.I.P.)
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Post by Hunter of Wisdom »

one can, and will, assume is actually the name of the character who is "off camera", addressing Stuart (which is also better than being called Hyman...just ask your Uncle Hymie), and who is, indeed, with out a shadow of doubt ...a fat, mustachioed, ivory tusked WALRUS!
I'd like to register a shadow of a doubt. I don't think the character off screen is the walrus, because the walrus is peeking through the door :P.
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Post by Rip Tanion »

Hunter of Wisdom wrote:
one can, and will, assume is actually the name of the character who is "off camera", addressing Stuart (which is also better than being called Hyman...just ask your Uncle Hymie), and who is, indeed, with out a shadow of doubt ...a fat, mustachioed, ivory tusked WALRUS!
I'd like to register a shadow of a doubt. I don't think the character off screen is the walrus, because the walrus is peeking through the door :P.
Hmmm, didn't notice that before. There goes by ZWOL No-prize, right down the toilet.

Then again, maybe not.

OK, we see our little (ok, he ain't so little) walrus friend peeking behind the door. But what if there's another walrus? What if the "off-camera" character, that Stuart (spelled backwards is Trauts) is speaking with, is a Walrus, too? What if the walruses had taken over the world, but no one ever noticed it?

Here's another clue for the lot,
The Walrus is Scott.
"Park the beers, and grab the smiles. It's flight time." - LtCdr. J. Robert "Bobby" Stone, USN (R.I.P.)
Hunter of Wisdom
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Post by Hunter of Wisdom »

Rip Tanion wrote:OK, we see our little (ok, he ain't so little) walrus friend peeking behind the door. But what if there's another walrus?
But if there are more than one walrus, which one is the walrus? The title implies that there's only one, or at the very least one that's more important (if only to the story) than the others.
Rip Tanion wrote:Stuart (spelled backwards is Trauts)
Maybe Stuart is a fish. Or several fishes.
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Post by DecafSilicon »

Stuart is the only walrus and everyone else are people in walrus costumes?

Like "The Others"?
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Post by Greg Stephens »

Hunter of Wisdom wrote:I don't think the character off screen is the walrus, because the walrus is peeking through the door :P.
Well, this improv's over- Somebody noticed the Walrus!
Good morning! That's a nice tnetennba.
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Post by Hunter of Wisdom »

Greg Stephens wrote:Well, this improv's over- Somebody noticed the Walrus!
Oops.

Sorry about that.

(I was thinking this Improv might involve ordinary people doing ordinary things in ordinary situations, but always, always, there's the walrus lurking in the background. Silent, observing, thinking, and in the end... it MURDERs them all! Or not.)
gareis

Post by gareis »

The walrus is going to steal everything! He's a rotten nasty thief!
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Post by DecafSilicon »

The walrus is up to his own plans, with no major bearing on the office workers, who serve as continual comic relief. Relief for what? Maybe for more comedy.

But maybe the Walrus has a mission.
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Post by Random Dent »

I have to go with the thief view- it seems to me like he defiantly snuck in. BUt there's no evil glint in his eyes...hmmm...
"One can not be a good dicator and design women's underclothings."
-Jeeves, The Code of the Woosters
gareis

Post by gareis »

Do you know how hard it is for a walrus to put *any* glint in his eye, much less an evil one?
Norg

Post by Norg »

I bet that walrus is there for his firt day on a job!, NObody noticed on his application that he was a walrus because they were not allowed to.,damned affirmitive action!
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Post by ShadowCaster »

I'm amazed no one experienced any reading problems with this comic but me. Since it has no trail, I read it line by line and of course it seemed very strange :oops: . I finally understood the problem when noticing the clock returning 5mn in the past. I think one of the aims of the shape of the first picture was to specify that the comic was ment to be read column by column. Since the first pannels are mostly identical, some more space beetween the first colums could be a way to help untrained webcomic readers like me figuring out the reading pattern.
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Post by kaos_de_moria »

ShadowCaster wrote:I'm amazed no one experienced any reading problems with this comic but me. Since it has no trail, I read it line by line and of course it seemed very strange :oops: . I finally understood the problem when noticing the clock returning 5mn in the past. I think one of the aims of the shape of the first picture was to specify that the comic was ment to be read column by column. Since the first pannels are mostly identical, some more space beetween the first colums could be a way to help untrained webcomic readers like me figuring out the reading pattern.
LOL most people came every day i guess and that way, they new the order of the panels... :D
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Post by Greg Stephens »

ShadowCaster wrote:I'm amazed no one experienced any reading problems with this comic but me. Since it has no trail, I read it line by line and of course it seemed very strange.
I'd been meaning to raise this question and remind Scott of page 86 of Understanding Comics, but I've been so nit-picky lately that I didn't feel I should. It's still a relevant issue, though. Trails would solve it handily.

Edit: Just noticed that trails have appeared for this comic as of today. Well, that fixed that!
Good morning! That's a nice tnetennba.
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Post by wansley »

Greg Stephens wrote:
ShadowCaster wrote:I'm amazed no one experienced any reading problems with this comic but me. Since it has no trail, I read it line by line and of course it seemed very strange :oops:
I'd been meaning to raise this question and remind Scott of page 86 of Understanding Comics, but I've been so nit-picky lately that I didn't feel I should. It's still a relevant issue, though. Trails would solve it handily.
Actually, I did read the panels of this comic in the wrong order at first as well, but quickly realized my mistake. I am surprised that Scott ("Happy Trails") McCloud uses trails in his webcomics so infrequently considering how much he has written about them. I would guess this is because trails are hard to implement with the methods Scott is using now to put his web pages together.

By the way, I did think it was interesting that Scott was apparently using increased space between the panels in the notorious previous Improv ("The Evil that Men Forget to Do") to indicate increasing passage of time, although it didn't seem to be done consistantly. Perhaps it was just an artifact of my web browser. (IE 5.5 ... I'm ... so ... ashamed ... sob!)
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Post by Scott McCloud »

That was funny.

I added the trails this morning, fearing that some might read the comic in the wrong direction and then just arrived here to find that you guys were already discussing the need ahead of time.

And since you asked:
Yes, the increased spaces in "Evil" were introduced deliberately to affect the pacing, and...
No, trails are easy enough to implement. I just want to use them when they serve a purpose (rather than just an attempt to make it look "McCloudian" or something). "Walrus" is a good example of a comic that suffered for the lack of them, so I put 'em in. Something like the more conventional Somnivore didn't really need them.
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A couple of observations

Post by Tim Mallos »

I like the depth Scott has created, using fully saturated lines and color for the foreground and slightly less so for the background. Notice the Walrus (or don't, if you want to keep the spirit of the endeavor) as he moves from the desaturated background into the fully saturated fore.

Hmm. Just looked again, I guess the fully saturated effect is just to focus attention, as the sheet of paper is fully saturated in the second panel, but the desk at the same plane is not. Anyhow, I like it.

Also, tick-tock. Pacing-shmacing, we have a very concrete time cue in this comic.

Finally, Norg, I was the walrus you described. I showed up for my new job in November of 1997 an no one knew who I was. Everyone who had interviewed me and hired me was in New York at Internet World for a week.

I sat around for 3 days with people staring at me until I finally got fed up and started helping with a project in crisis. Very weird experience.

Tim
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Kris Lachowski

HEY!

Post by Kris Lachowski »

I bet that "HEY!" is not directed at him. Poor guy, i hate that "being ignored in the waiting room feeling".
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The receptionist's name

Post by josner »

She is Bernice when she's behind the desk, Cathy when she's in front. Or is Bernice still back there?
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